D&I Silica is based in Sheffield, Warren County, and has 98 employees and it serves oil and gas customers throughout the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. The company has 12 destination terminals for frac sand that are serviced by rail.

Hi-Crush plans to acquire D&I for $95 million in cash and 1.579 million units at the price of $19 a unit. The acquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of this year.

The acquisition will allow Houston, Texas-based Hi-Crush, which produces frac sand, to become a producer, transporter and marketer of Northern White frac sand. Furthermore, the acquisition will double Hi-Crush’s employee size and geographic footprint. Frac sand is a type of proppant used to keep hydraulic fractures open during a fracking treatment.

“Proppants are playing a critical role in the shale gas revolution and demand for proppants is growing faster than shale drilling activities, creating attractive growth opportunities,” Jim Whipkey, co-CEO of Hi-Crush, said in a statement. “We are seeing increasing demand and market preference for premium white sand as well complexity continues to increase. With D&I, Hi-Crush will be even better positioned to gain market share and deliver unit holder value as we become a more nimble company that can readily meet our customers’ needs.”